Sunday, June 1, 2008

The bathing suits in which you dressAre nothing much and mostly less,And as you saunter to and froA lot of family traits they show.

~ J.P. McEvoy 1919 ~

I marvel every time I look at this photograph, how anyone thought they could swim in this outfit. A hat, a dress, stockings, and laced boots - all to go swimming? This is a photograph of my Grandmother when she was about eleven years old. Where she was going to go swimming is unknown; or even for that matter if she ever got wet. Note the man in the background wearing a wool swimsuit. I wonder if the weight of a wet wool swimsuit contributed to people drowning.

My Mother's family spent a great deal of time near the water. Note I have said near, as I have no photographs of them actually in the water. Before they were married, my grandparents would motor down to Edgemere from Flushing with my Great Grandparents on holiday. They stayed in one of the many cottages found there in the early 1900s.

Cottage At Edgemere1915

Edgemere was a neighborhood in southwestern Queens on the Rockaway Peninsula. It is found between Beach 32nd and Beach 16th streets. It was home to the famous Edgemere Hotel built by Frederick Lancaster in 1895 and operated by him until 1919. He also owned many of the cottages.

Great Grandmother SalterEdgemere 1915Woman's Work Knows No Holiday

My Grandfather Greene& The Hottest Car on Long IslandEdgemere 1915

This photo is the reason I believe my family motored out to Edgemere. My Grandfather loved to drive and was fond of what he called hot cars. Once on a visit to New York he took my sister and me for a ride in his Karman Gia which he called the "Hottest Car On Long Island." He drove so fast it scared my Mother and she had a conversation with he about speeding with her children in the car. He laughed, teased my Mother and she gave up on the lecture. We did not, however, go for a ride with Grandpa again. So it is an assumption on my part that he always had a hot car and that the family drove to Edgemere. Rail service at the time made it a very easy trip from Flushing, so perhaps they took the train and hired a car when they arrived.

Grandpa Greene & His CameraEdgemere 1915

My Grandfather never went anywhere without a camera, and as you can see here, he had graduated to moving pictures. He documented everything. How I wish I knew where some of those old moving pictures were hidden.

Once they were married and my Uncle Edward was born the family would take the baby with them on their trips to the beach. Below is a photograph of the family having a picnic on the beach, fully clothed, hats, and ties with nothing that resembles a bathing suit.

Then of course, the baby had to be wheeled down the boardwalk - notice no bathing suits in sight. I'm beginning to get an idea of why the old photographers had the painted backdrops of the beach. No one actually put on a bathing suit and got wet during this period of time.

More Beach - No SuitsBathing Suits That Is

I had started to think that perhaps it was just the part of the country. New York wasn't then and isn't now sunny California. Then I found the photograph below. Venice City, California, 1915, on the beach with Grandpa Greene. Dapper as always, but no bathing suit.

Venice Beach, California1915

So it can only be the times or the family. My money is on the family. You don't see any photos of me in a swimsuit do you? We're a lot smarter than we look!